Muralist Johan Bjurman nears completion of a large wall mural for the 25th anniversary of AS220 in 2010. The mural, designed by Shepard Fairey, was painted on the north wall of the Pell Chafee Performance Center in Providence. [The Providence Journal, file / Steve Szydlowski]▲

Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey poses in front of his Barack Obama "Hope" artwork in 2009. The 1992 Rhode Island School of Design graduate is in Providence for an exhibit of his work at AS220 and to paint his 100th mural on the Founders League building downtown. [AP file / Damian Dovarganes]▲

"Obey Icon Pole" by Shepard Fairey.▲

A Buddy Cianci billboard at South Main and Angell Streets in Providence, defaced by Shepard Fairey in 1990, was just prank he says. [The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers]▲

The mural Shepard Fairey is painting in Providence this week features a portrait of Anjel Newmann, pictured last year, who took hip-hop dance classes at AS220 as a kid and went on to become the youth director for the organization.
[The Providence Journal, file / Kris Craig]▲

The Los Angeles-based street artist who graduated from RISD in 1992 has returned to the creative capital this week for the opening of his exhibit at the local arts organization AS220 and to paint a mural — his 100th — on the Founders League building downtown.

PROVIDENCE — For Shepard Fairey, Providence is where it all began.

The Los Angeles-based street artist who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 has returned to the creative capital this week for the opening of his exhibit at the local arts organization AS220 and to paint a mural — his 100th hand-painted mural — on the Founders League building downtown.

The exhibition, "Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent," is a collection of some of his best work from 30 years as an artist.

"This is where it started," Fairey, 49, said of Providence during an interview at the home of RISD's president. "Providence means a lot to me in general."

Fairey, who is known for his activist artwork and graphic design, is also the founder of the "OBEY" clothing brand and is perhaps best known for pieces such as the Barack Obama "Hope" campaign poster.

Using art to get people to think critically about the world around them has been a theme of Fairey's work since he first began distributing "André the Giant has a Posse" stickers as a way to grab people's attention and get them to start asking questions. The stickers, which feature a grainy image of the wrestler André the Giant, would go on to be distributed in cities around the world.

In 1990, a mischievous, 20-year-old Fairey, climbed up a billboard at the corner of North Main and Steeple streets that was advertising the reelection campaign of former Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci, who was mounting a political comeback after pleading guilty to felony assault charges in 1984. Fairey plastered André the Giant's face over the mayor's. The defaced billboard became an iconic symbol of political dissent, but at the time, Fairey recalled, it was intended to be a prank.

"This billboard is dumb and needs to be made fun of," he said he thought at the time. The billboard showed a smiling Cianci and the phrase "He never stopped caring about Providence" (which would become "André never stopped caring about Providence" when Fairey was done with it). "The idea that politics would be about image, celebrity, personality, charisma and not about brass-tacks issues was really irritating to me."

Fairey, who said he climbed and vandalized the billboard at around 2:30 one morning during the fall of 1990, was caught shortly after because Cianci's daughter knew someone he skateboarded with.

The former mayor called Fairey in for a meeting.

"I had to skateboard over to his house right off Benefit Street," said Fairey, who said men in grey suits, "henchmen types," were also at the house.

Cianci suggested that, to make up for his actions, Fairey, who at the time was a teacher's assistant in a screen printing studio, find a way to teach screen printing to under-privileged youth.

Fairey said Cianci later issued a press release saying that he had decided not to punish the perpetrator of the billboard prank, but instead have him put his talents to constructive use.

But years later, Fairey began working closely with AS220, which offers a variety of creative arts programs for young people. The mural he is painting in Providence this week features a portrait of Anjel Newmann, who took hip-hop dance classes at AS220 as a kid and went on to become the youth director for the organization.

"I think her story is very inspiring in that she had access to something that a lot of people don't have access to and it made a huge difference in her life," Fairey said. "Now, she's using that to try to create the same feelings, opportunities, expression, etc. for other people."

For Fairey, putting on his exhibition in the city that helped jump-start his art career, and working in partnership with an organization that is dedicated to providing artistic opportunities to the community, directly connects to his values as an artist.

"One of my main philosophies is that creativity is amazing therapy," he said. "It's amazing empowerment, and art should be more democratic than it is. AS220 is democratizing art and giving access to people who a lot of times don't have access. It's a model for any community, and it's important to me that my 100th painted mural be in Providence."